Friday, 7 March 2014

Re-enforcement..... With a full day's activity yesterday, I hardly had time to focus on today's planned trip which is the third that I composed when I arrived here. In all respects this trip is very much a wildcard as it had never been researched or considered. With the successful completion of the jars site tour followed by the emotive Vietnam War insight I achieved yesterday, my visit to Xieng Kouang province has already rewarded me for me efforts. But there is another location in this province which is high on the list of historic importance and contains a fair mixture of sites which would re-enforce and expand on previous trips. But there is a problem, and it's one of distance, I can't realistically use the motorbike. With at least a 100 kilometre round-trip, a stiff mountain pass to negotiate and the likely supply of poor equipment I must fall back on local transport. With few foreigners arriving here there simply aren't the numbers to make up a group tour.
Departure for Muang Kham..... Muang Kham is a sizable community northeast of Phonsavan and only about 60 kilometres from the Vietnamese border. There is a sizable jar site here too with waterfalls and caves, two hot springs and yet more evidence of warfare. It should be relatively high on the visit list. In fact the tour brochures suggest an overnight stay in the town. Quite honestly I don't know what to expect and to make matters worse there is a public holiday here in Laos. What advice I'm given is not very revealing. I'm in the lap of the gods as I make my way to the local bus station. Here I have to skip breakfast as a bus is about to leave. It's of the type that brought me from Pakxan and adequate for the relatively short distance involved. It's not much after 8 am, and I'm anxious to make good use of the day. However this local service seems in no hurry as passengers and baggage continue to come and go. As the bus leaves and heads up the pass it's consumed around 2 hours, but it can't be too far now surely. Well it's not, but this bus won't make it that far.
Setback..... On one of the curves, fortunately an inner one, the bus grinds to a halt. As the passengers start piling out I just know there's a problem. Well this I wasn't expecting, waiting on a mountain road gazing across the valley opposite. I came here to explore Laos though, didn't I? I understand there's a problem with the water pump and another bus is being sent up the valley, but it will take time to arrive. In the meantime there nothing to do except watch the comings and goings of transport of all kinds from motorbikes to heavy trucks. When a larger bus passes through there are hoots of laughter and I momentarily get ray of hope as a MAG vehicle passes. I instinctively give a wave as it so happens I'm wearing one of their T-shirts. But apart from a smile from the driver it doesn't stop. Time is ticking on, and the day is already compromised. When another bus finally arrives there is the painfully slow process of reloaded baggage onto to roof rack and to any other free space available. By the time I reach Muang Kham it's midday and I need to eat something. I also need to change some money. A local pharmacy offers me 245baht/kip. I'm fine with that.
Compromised..... From now on I get a much better insight into the size of the gap Laos has to fill in order to handle greater tourism it so badly craves to boost the economy here in Xieng Kouang Province. I first need to establish what transport is here, but my problem is how to fill this page with 'blanks'. It's incredible. There is no piece of transport remotely available for visiting Muang Kham's tourist sites. I'm at a total loss as I try to figure something out with a local van driver whose only suggestion is to offer to take me back to Phonsavan at 2 pm. Curiously, nobody seems remotely concerned about my predicament, although one motorbike repair shop conjures up a stupid price to borrow a motorbike. The fact is that tourists do arrive here but not independently as I have. The people are simply not conditioned to handle this situation. I've clearly miscalculated something, and I'm now in danger of wasting another day.
Tham Piou..... There's just one glimmer of hope as the van driver makes a phone call. With failure hanging over me, I can only prioritize and ask for assistance to reach the only site that seems practical without transport. Language is becoming more of a problem as my broken Thai is not so effective. The Vietnamese and Hmong dialects are much stronger in Muang Kham. Suddenly a motorbike pulls up with its young rider looking much like a Lowery figure with cloth cap and jacket. He agrees to take me to the emotive Tham Piou (cave). It's this cave that drew me to include this area on a tour in the first place. With hot springs, waterfalls, bomb craters and jars sites also in the area it was a natural choice, but I've had to abandon all of these to concentrate on just one site just 5 kilometres away.
We head off into the mountains and take a left onto a dirt road, at the end of which is a car park with a small visitor center. Here a number of motorbikes are parked up, and I note that the majority of visitors are youngsters. They are here for the cool mountain water which has been diverted down concrete irrigation channels and through rock pools. But I'm here for another reason. From the car park I can clearly see the cave, but first I stop in front of a large statue of a grieving man holding his dead son in his arms. Yes, this is about the effects of war. As I ascend a staircase, I'm befriended by a couple of students who wish to act as guides. It's good for them to practice their English. One in particular, wants to go to the UK to study. Despite some general chat there is little they can tell me that I don't already know. Instead, we reach the cave, and I'm shown inside. Curious stone stacks like those I saw in the cave at the Jar 1 site appear all over the cave floor. They are topped by spent incense sticks and candles, in clear respect of the dead. I'm told that the cave system extends for hundreds of metres underground. I will later see an artist's impression of what this cave looked like during the Vietnam War. There is a second picture which records the aftermath of a most tragic event that took place here in November 1968.
The cave had been used by local inhabitants as shelter from the incessant carpet bombing in Xieng Khouang Province. It had medical facilities, kitchens and sleeping quarters. There is no record of military personnel using the cave, but that is to be expected. What the records do show is that on 28 November an air strike took place here by a single jet. It fired four missiles directed at the cave entrance. The first three missed, but the fourth scored a direct hit. As I look around the cave there are interesting geological features but blackened and charred rock surfaces remain as testimony to this tragic event as do the mass grave markers that cling to the rugged hillside. At the visitor center there are the now familiar examples of scrap war ordnance. It also reveals that at least 374 men, women and children died. On the walls there are some graphic photographs. This is another of those disturbing moments, but there are also posters that feed off this tragedy in a way that typifies human reaction in these instances. The propaganda was bound to intensify hatred towards the perpetrators.
Calling it a day..... I head back to Meung Kham where a van is waiting to depart for Phonsavan. I have to call it a day. I've really no option. It's just a question of what might have been. In a sense I'm grateful for an easy day, but I'm also aware that there are to be no more excursions now in Xieng Khouang province. I've been in Phonsavan for six days, longer than any other location I can recall on this website. The impression it's made has been immense and is unlikely to be boosted by further exploration, yet there are still so many sites that I could review here if I were not so confined. It's something I have to come to terms with as I head back to Phonsavan with far less effort than it took on the way out. In the evening I make I third visit to the MAG office to make a donation. I also pick up a few souvenirs which will help local people, but I hadn't bargained for the public holiday today in Laos and miss yet another opportunity. With a long weekend now in progress I think it's time to move on. I order a van to take me to Vang Vieng in the morning. A sandwich will do for tonight as I try to bring my blog up to date.
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